From Mr L. Callus

Whenever I see the beautiful Houses of Parliament in London I cannot help but ask myself why we in Malta cannot have something similar, of course on a smaller scale.

The question of moving Parliament to a more suitable site has already been explored. Unfortunately, there has been a lot of negative feedback from the Prime Minister’s idea to make use of the Old Opera House and I assume the plans have been shelved, which is surely a mistake.

After some hard thinking, it dawned on me that at this point in time, a once in a lifetime opportunity is available which, in my humble opinion, would solve this issue once and for all in a grand way.

What I have in mind is for the government to do what more or less has been done in Brussels, when government bought Malta House. This time round it would be the purchase of the former Phoenicia Hotel and making use of it as Malta’s House of Parliament. Why not? The advantages as listed hereunder are tremendous:

• it is a stone’s throw away from Valletta and the Office of the Prime Minister

• all 65 members will have their own office

• another 65 rooms can be used to provide secretarial services to each member

• there is ample space for the Clerk of the House and staff

• the site is imposing and on a par with the best Houses of Parliament in Europe

• as in Brussels, the remaining space that is not used can be rented and in the long run it will pay for itself

• it can also be looked upon as an investment in real estate – it can only go up in value

• parking problems would also be a thing of the past

In the circumstances I sincerely believe it may be worth a second thought and would also dare say that the leaders of the three political parties would agree and consider it as another project that deserves urgent attention. It would most certainly enhance Malta’s image.

Lino Callus

BALZAN